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On the face of it, Julian Assange and Alyaksandr Barankou appear to be world's apart.

The world-famous Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, is regularly featured on the front pages of the major international newspapers.

On the other hand, until recently not many people had even heard of Barankou, who fled his native Belarus three years ago.

Now, however, Barankou is regularly mentioned in connection with the notorious Australian because both have been granted political asylum by Ecuador.

But while Quito has vowed to stick to its pledge of asylum for Assange, despite pressure from Great Britain and Sweden, Barankou might not be so fortunate.

Assange, who is wanted by Sweden to face rape allegations, sought refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London two months ago and was granted political asylum earlier this week. He later made a statement from the embassy balcony that was broadcast around the world. He is still on the embassy premises.

According to various accounts, Barankou, 30, was a member of the Belarusian security forces who says he was seeking to expose corruption among some of the country's senior officials.

He was granted political asylum in Ecuador in 2010.

But just a few weeks before Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka visited the South American country on June 28, Barankou was detained. He now sits in a jail in the capital, Quito, awaiting a court decision on a new extradition request from Belarusian authorities.

Barankou, whose name is also sometimes spelled Barankov, told Ecuadorean reporters after an August 9 court hearing that he fears his life would be in danger if he were sent back to Belarus -- the only European country which still uses the death penalty.

"If they extradite me I will face torture and a death sentence," he said. "I don't stand a chance."

Barankou arrived in Ecuador in 2009 after escaping from Belarus, where he had been charged with bribery and fraud and put on the Interpol's wanted list.

He chose Ecuador because he did not need a visa to travel there.

Disputed Claims

Barankou’s story remains blurry. It is unclear where exactly he worked before fleeing Belarus, and what position he held in the country's security forces.

His Ecuadorean girlfriend, Mabel Andrade, told RFE/RL that he worked in the army but was also part of a body that looked into government corruption.

Belarusian authorities, however, maintain that Barankou is a common criminal.

"[Barankou and accomplices] gathered compromising material on businessmen," he added. "He told them they were being investigated and asked them to pay up if they wanted to see those investigations closed. In the end he made several hundred thousand dollars doing that because there were many such cases."

Alena Krasouskaya of the Minsk-based human rights group Platforma told RFE/RL that while Barankou asked for the organization's support, he did not reveal what kind of information he possesses.

But she maintained that the Belarusian authorities' persistence in seeking his extradition is proof that he does have "certain information."

Closer Diplomatic Ties

Belarus’s renewed efforts to extradite Barankou come as Ecuador’s leftist President Rafael Correa has been seeking closer ties with countries such as Iran, China, and Russia.

It was perhaps no surprise, therefore, that Lukashenka stopped off in Ecuador while making a visit earlier this summer to his Latin American allies Cuba and Venezuela.

According to the official statement from the visit, Lukashenka and Correa agreed to strengthen military, trade, and diplomatic ties. There was no mention in the official statement of Barankou’s name or any extradition request.

However, Barankou’s lawyer, Fernando Lara, insists that his client's detention was directly connected to Lukashenka's visit.

Lara told RFE/RL that a Belarusian government delegation had been sent to Ecuador in parallel, working to secure Barankou's extradition.

"When Barankou had his hearing [on August 9] there was a mission of the government of Belarus present which had been in Ecuador in advance of President Lukashenka's visit [on June 28]," he said. "They said in the hearing they had a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and they had a meeting at the president's office and that they were protesting the designation of Barankou as a political refugee."

Andrade, Barankou’s girlfriend, has appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) -- the rights branch of the Organization of American States (OAS) -- saying he faces torture and even the death penalty if sent back to Belarus.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed to RFE/RL that the IACHR had received such an appeal that could result in its recommending that Ecuador should refuse to extradite Barankou.

Andrade has not given up hope that the Ecuadorean court will not send Barankou back.

"All national and international laws are with Alyaksandr now," she said. "He is a refugee and can't be extradited. I don't know -- I hope there will be justice in this case and that the court decides not to extradite him and that Ecuador continues giving him the protection it gave him for two years and that political pressure does not endanger his refugee status.”

The court was due to render a decision in the case within three days after the August 9 hearing. So far no decision has been announced.

Comments

by: Eugenio from: Vienna

August 22, 2012 04:38

Excellent, guys, congratulations: a very good attemp to set the news agenda - why talk about what interests everyone (Julian Assange in this specific case), let's better talk about what no one gives a damn about - Alyaksandr Barankou. One can be sure that Hillary Clinton, the King of Saudi Arabia and other leaders of the "free world" will appreciate your inventiveness!!

In Response

by: Anna from: Sweden

August 22, 2012 08:53

Since everyone can learn about Mr.Assange in any other media, there is not reason to take up space in RFE with more of the same.Personally I read the articles in RFE exactly for that reason: you get to know things that other media do NOT talk about.

In Response

by: Eugenio from: Vienna

August 22, 2012 20:10

Ah, Anna, if that's the reason for which you read "articles" that RFE/RL publishes, you might want to consult some science-fiction literature dazu noch, as long as the picture of the world that this "media" outlet tries to feed its readers with is just as remote from reality as the one you will find in the litterature of the above-mentioned genre.

In Response

by: Anna from: Sweden

August 23, 2012 09:54

So, Eugenio, for what reason do you visit the RFE page? To write intelligent comments?

In Response

by: Eugenio from: Vienna

August 23, 2012 12:52

Anna, don't insult my intelligence.

In Response

by: Eugenio from: Vienna

August 24, 2012 10:44

Anna, anyone who visits this forum regularly know that I visit this web.site because Putin, Ahmadinejad and Chávez pay me for trolling here, and the Chinese Embassy in Vienna give me for it food-stampt with which I have access to the "all-you-can-eat" program of the canteen of this dimplomatic representation.If you are looking for some info that is REALLY ALTERNATIVE to what you can read in Western media, I could recommend www.telesurtv.net, www.rebelion.org or www.youtube.com/russiatodayCheers from Vienna!

by: Vakntang from: Moscow

August 22, 2012 10:02

From Ecuador to the United States and Europe together with bananas shipped cocaine..Drug lords of Ecuador decided to save a criminal Assange from punishment....gangster sees gangster from afar...Meanwhile, Assange is a serial rapist-he is a danger to girls and women..I therefore call on all honest people demand the arrest rapist Assange and force him to chemical castration...

by: Eugenio from: Vienna

August 25, 2012 13:54

By the way, talking about human rights in Belarus: Today's German media is reporting that the German Federal Police has since 2007 been training the Belarussian policemen, including some of those who participated in the breaking down of the "popular protests" after the last presidential elections in the country. The German opposition is allegedly "horrified" by the fact that Frau Merkel is helping the "last dictator of Europe" to bury the Belarussian "democracy movt" :-).RFE/RL, here is an interesting topic for you to chew on, but apparently the US state dept will not be too happy to read on this "affair" on the pages of this web-site. Or, who knows...At any rate, here are the references: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/weissrussland-deutsche-polizei-bildete-lukaschenkos-milizen-aus-a-851780.htmlhttp://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/weissrussland-opposition-empoert-ueber-hilfe-fuer-lukaschenko-polizei-a-851962.html